1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains in general to the field of propelling apparatus for generation of a thrust or for fluid flow, and in particular to the field of blade apparatus for powering a shaft, propelling a vehicle or for pumping a fluid, gas, liquid, or any other mixture, or any other medium.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Blades are used in various devices such as propellers, turbines, pumps, blowers, fans and other like apparatus. In general, such blades are twisted and angled to either propel a medium such as a liquid, gas or slurry past the blades or to cause a medium to impinge upon the blades to cause rotation of the blades about a shaft. For example, a boat propeller generally consists of two or more blades attached to a hub or shaft with the blades being twisted and raked backwards. The blades are symmetrically arranged around the circumference of the hub. The overall diameter, the amount of rake and the pitch of the blades all play a part in the performance of a propeller. Blades having a low pitch angle are generally more power producing than a blade having a high pitch angle. A higher pitch angle generally produces greater speed. Airplane propellers and fan blades are not unlike boat propellers, the only difference being that air is moved rather than water. The basic design of such blades has not changed for many years.
Pump impellers, on the other hand, come in many different designs. There are gear pumps, centrifugal pumps, turbine pumps and others. The only real difference between a pump impeller and a propeller is that one is designed to move a vehicle while the other is designed to move a medium. In actuality both devices move mediums. The boat itself moves because of the reaction of the propeller to the water as the water is being "pumped" past the propeller.
While there exist a number of inventions which are said to increase the performance of propellers and impellers, these inventions utilize the basic blade designs as explained above. Such inventions include changes to the rake and pitch angles, adding vanes to the blades, etc. But, the basic shape of the blade remains the same and the problems remain the same, i.e., the achievable rake and pitch are limited. Only the axial flow components serve to propel a vehicle, pump a medium or power a shaft. The transverse flow components are simply wasted energy.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for a propeller/impeller blade with improved rake and pitch, so that transverse energy is not diminished at the center or edges of the propeller/impeller blade(s). Any such device should allow for the use of a wide range of materials to accommodate different applications and decrease the cost. The present invention is particularly suited to overcome those problems which remain in the art in a manner not previously known.
Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a propeller/impeller blade apparatus which has improved performance characteristics over the blades of conventional propellers, blowers, fans, pump impellers, etc.
Another object of the present invention is to provide propeller/impeller blade apparatus which can be used for pumping, turning a shaft and propelling applications.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a propeller/impeller blade apparatus which has improved performance characteristics over conventional blades as used in propelling, power conversion and pumping devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pumping or thrust-producing blade which is of simple construction and therefore economical to manufacture.